Picadilly City Info

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Picadilly Circus, London (UK) » City Info

Piccadilly is a prominent road in London,leading from Hyde Park in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. Located within the boundaries of the Borough of the City of Westminster, this area is a part of the A4 road, which is supposed to be the lifeline of London’s transport system. St. James’s surrounds the street of Piccadilly in the south-eastern direction while the western direction affords a good view of the famous Green Park. The renowned and exlusive shopping area of Mayfair lies to the north of Piccadilly.

Piccadilly has always made heads turn with some of its most sought after attractions such as Piccadilly Circus, The Ritz Hotel, The Royal Academy, Hatchards bookshop and Fortnum & Mason department store. The area is very popular and penned down by many fiction authors in their novels such as Dracula, Albert Campion and the Lord Peter Wimsey series of books. Many films have been made on “Piccadilly” by British directors, such as the 1929 silent drama film directed by EwaldDupont.

Despite being such a small neighbourhood, Piccadilly achieved much fame in the minds of tourists and travellers, partly because it encompasses London’s premium shopping streets where most of the well-known celebrities come to splurge and indulge.

Transport

The street of Piccadilly is connected to all of the main streets and squares of London by the Piccadilly tube line of the London Underground. Major tube stations like Greek Park, Hyde Park Corner and Piccadilly Circus are connected directly to Piccadilly. There are a number of adjacent streets, which can be explored while in Piccadilly like:

Albemarle Street, Old Bond Street and Dover Street in Mayfair

Hyde Park Corner

Piccadilly Circus

Regent Street and

St James's Street

All of the above streets are mainly known for their shopping extravaganzas, but fine quality restaurants, pubs and theatres are added bonuses that come with them.

Adjoining Areas

Piccadilly Circus is a public space and road junction in London that was built in 1819 to connect Regent’s street with Piccadilly Street. Today, the circle is major traffic intersection and hot spot for tourists as it directly links shopping neighbourhoods such as Haymarket, Coventry Street, Glasshouse Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, West End, and Piccadilly Street. The Circus is prominently visited for its brightly lit neon signs and boards that make up for an interesting view during the night. The nearest transport junction is the Piccadilly Circus London Underground station.

Similar to the Piccadilly Circus, Hyde Park Corner is a roundabout and major traffic intersection where Constitution Hill, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place, Park Lane and Knightsbridge converge. Located to the south east of Hyde Park, the nearest tube station is Hyde Park Corner. At the roundabout stands a memorial statuette known as the Wellington Arch, which is designed by Decimus Burton and dedicated to the Duke of Wellington. Other important memorials include ‘The Australian War Memorial’, ‘Statue of David’, ‘The New Zealand War Memorial’, and ‘The Royal Artillery Memorial’.

St. James’s is an area of London in the Borough of City of Westminster, bordered by Piccadilly to the north, Green Park in the west, The Mall and St. James’s Park to the south and The Haymarket to the east. St. James’s was formerly referred as the “Clubland’ because of the number of gentlemen clubs found here by the English high society. Today, it is well known for its art galleries, theatres and cigar stores.

The Green Park is one of Royal Parks of London located in the City of Westminster, Central London. Along with the Kensington Gardens and Buckingham Palace Gardens, the trio covers a wide stretch of open space, spanning from Whitehall to Victoria Hall to Kensington to Notting Hill. Bordering areas include Constitution Hill to the south, Queen's Walk to the east, and Piccadilly to the north. The nearest tube station is the Green Park tube station.

MayFair (or The May Fair) is an area situated in Central London within the boundaries of the Borough of City of Westminster. The area was named after the annual May Fair that took place on the site that today is Shepherd Market. The surrounding areas include Hyde Park to the west, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the east and Piccadilly and Green Park to the south. Today, it is well known for being one of the most expensive real estate properties in England with major corporate headquarters, luxury houses situated in the area. Rents in Mayfair are said to be among the highest in London. The nearest railway station is Victoria station.

Soho, one of the major locations in the borough of Westminster was until recently known only for its sex industry. For much part of the 20th century, it had a reputation for strip clubs, sex shops along with the presence of theatre and film industry. Since the 1980’s, the area continued to revamp itself and become well known for its upmarket restaurants and media industry. With police force and tightening of licensing controls, the culture in Soho has now been ‘toned down’ largely; although a small part of the prostitution, industry still exists.